Class War is an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

group and

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

established by Ian Bone and others in 1983 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. An incarnation of Class War was briefly registered as a political party for the purposes of fighting the

2015 United Kingdom general election The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The Conservative Party (U ...

Events

In the 1980s, Class War organised a number of "Bash The Rich" demonstrations, in which supporters were invited to march through and disrupt wealthier areas of London such as

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, and

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...

, bearing banners and placards with slogans such as "Behold your future executioners!" A third Bash the Rich event, scheduled to march through

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

, in 1985 was largely prevented by a heavy

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

presence and was acknowledged by Class War to have been a failure. This event was seen by many as a major setback for the group and many members left to form other groups or drifted away.

2010s onwards

In the 2010s, Ian Bone revived Class War as a political party. Their activities included a weekly protest about " poor doors" outside One Commercial Street in Aldgate, with Action East End and '' Freedom News''. These protests ended in partial victory in November 2014. Group member Lisa McKenzie was found not guilty under joint enterprise for causing criminal damage. In the

, Class War stood seven candidates which received a total of 526 votes. The party was voluntarily deregistered with the

electoral commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

in July 2015.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Class War covers gallery at Libcom

Class War archive at Libcom

Class War archive at Sparrows Nest
Anarchist organisations in the United Kingdom Anarchist newspapers Anarchist political parties Mass media and culture in Swansea Newspapers established in 1983 Political parties established in 2014 2014 establishments in the United Kingdom Anarchist periodicals {{UK-stub